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Leviticus 19
Contemporary English Version
Leviticus 19
Contemporary English Version
Moral and Religious Laws
19 The Lord told Moses 2 (A) to say to the community of Israel:
I am the Lord your God. I am holy, and you must be holy too! 3-4 (B) Respect your father and your mother, honor the Sabbath, and don't make idols or images. I am the Lord your God.
5 When you offer a sacrifice to ask my blessing,[a] be sure to follow my instructions. 6 You may eat the meat either on the day of the sacrifice or on the next day, but you must burn anything left over on the third day. 7 If you eat any of it on the third day, the sacrifice will be disgusting to me, and I will reject it. 8 In fact, you will be punished for not respecting what I say is holy, and you will no longer belong to the community of Israel.
9 (C) When you harvest your grain, always leave some of it standing along the edges of your fields and don't pick up what falls on the ground. 10 Don't strip your grapevines clean or gather the grapes that fall off the vines. Leave them for the poor and for those foreigners who live among you. I am the Lord your God.
11 (D) Do not steal or tell lies or cheat others.
12 (E) Do not misuse my name by making promises you don't intend to keep. I am the Lord your God.
13 (F) Do not steal anything or cheat anyone, and don't fail to pay your workers at the end of each day.[b]
14 (G) I am the Lord your God, and I command you not to make fun of the deaf or to cause a blind person to stumble.
15 (H) Be fair, no matter who is on trial—don't favor either the poor or the rich.
16 Don't be a gossip, but never hesitate to speak up in court, especially if your testimony can save someone's life.[c]
17 (I) Don't hold grudges. On the other hand, it's wrong not to correct someone who needs correcting. 18 (J) Don't be angry or try to take revenge. I am the Lord, and I command you to love others as much as you love yourself.
19 (K) Breed your livestock animals only with animals of the same kind, and don't plant two kinds of seed in the same field or wear clothes made of different kinds of material.
20 If a man has sex with a slave woman who is promised in marriage to someone else, he must pay a fine, but they are not to be put to death. After all, she was still a slave at the time.[d] 21-22 The man must bring a ram to the entrance of the sacred tent and give it to a priest, who will then offer it as a sacrifice to me, so the man's sins will be forgiven.
23 After you enter the land, you will plant fruit trees, but you are not to eat any fruit from them for the first three years. 24 In the fourth year the fruit must be set apart, as an expression of thanks 25 to me, the Lord God. Do this, and in the fifth year, those trees will produce an abundant harvest of fruit for you to eat.
26 (L) Don't eat the blood of any animal.
Don't practice any kind of witchcraft.
27-28 (M) I forbid you to shave any part of your head or beard or to cut and tattoo yourself as a way of worshiping the dead.
29 (N) Don't let your daughters serve as temple prostitutes—this would bring disgrace both to them and the land.
30 (O) I command you to respect the Sabbath and the place where I am worshiped.
31 (P) Don't make yourselves disgusting to me by going to people who claim they can talk to the dead.
32 I command you to show respect for older people and to obey me with fear and trembling.
33 (Q) Don't mistreat any foreigners who live in your land. 34 Instead, treat them as well as you treat your own people and love them as much as you love yourself. Remember, you were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
35-36 (R) Use honest scales and don't cheat when you weigh or measure anything.
I am the Lord your God. I rescued you from Egypt, 37 and I command you to obey my laws.
Footnotes
- 19.5 sacrifice … to ask my blessing: See the note at 3.1.
- 19.13 to pay … end of each day: Day laborers needed their wages to buy food for their evening meal, which was the main meal of the day.
- 19.16 but never … someone's life: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 19.20 time: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 20.
Leviticus 19
New International Version
Leviticus 19
New International Version
Various Laws
19 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel(A) and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God,(B) am holy.(C)
3 “‘Each of you must respect your mother and father,(D) and you must observe my Sabbaths.(E) I am the Lord your God.(F)
4 “‘Do not turn to idols or make metal gods for yourselves.(G) I am the Lord your God.(H)
5 “‘When you sacrifice a fellowship offering to the Lord, sacrifice it in such a way that it will be accepted on your behalf. 6 It shall be eaten on the day you sacrifice it or on the next day; anything left over until the third day must be burned up.(I) 7 If any of it is eaten on the third day, it is impure and will not be accepted.(J) 8 Whoever eats it will be held responsible(K) because they have desecrated what is holy(L) to the Lord; they must be cut off from their people.(M)
9 “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges(N) of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.(O) 10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time(P) or pick up the grapes that have fallen.(Q) Leave them for the poor and the foreigner.(R) I am the Lord your God.
11 “‘Do not steal.(S)
“‘Do not lie.(T)
“‘Do not deceive one another.(U)
12 “‘Do not swear falsely(V) by my name(W) and so profane(X) the name of your God. I am the Lord.
13 “‘Do not defraud or rob(Y) your neighbor.(Z)
“‘Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker(AA) overnight.(AB)
14 “‘Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind,(AC) but fear your God.(AD) I am the Lord.
15 “‘Do not pervert justice;(AE) do not show partiality(AF) to the poor or favoritism to the great,(AG) but judge your neighbor fairly.(AH)
16 “‘Do not go about spreading slander(AI) among your people.
“‘Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life.(AJ) I am the Lord.
17 “‘Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart.(AK) Rebuke your neighbor frankly(AL) so you will not share in their guilt.
18 “‘Do not seek revenge(AM) or bear a grudge(AN) against anyone among your people,(AO) but love your neighbor(AP) as yourself.(AQ) I am the Lord.
19 “‘Keep my decrees.(AR)
“‘Do not mate different kinds of animals.
“‘Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed.(AS)
“‘Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.(AT)
20 “‘If a man sleeps with a female slave who is promised to another man(AU) but who has not been ransomed or given her freedom, there must be due punishment.[a] Yet they are not to be put to death, because she had not been freed. 21 The man, however, must bring a ram to the entrance to the tent of meeting for a guilt offering to the Lord.(AV) 22 With the ram of the guilt offering the priest is to make atonement for him before the Lord for the sin he has committed, and his sin will be forgiven.(AW)
23 “‘When you enter the land and plant any kind of fruit tree, regard its fruit as forbidden.[b] For three years you are to consider it forbidden[c]; it must not be eaten. 24 In the fourth year all its fruit will be holy,(AX) an offering of praise to the Lord. 25 But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit. In this way your harvest will be increased. I am the Lord your God.
26 “‘Do not eat any meat with the blood still in it.(AY)
“‘Do not practice divination(AZ) or seek omens.(BA)
27 “‘Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.(BB)
28 “‘Do not cut(BC) your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord.
29 “‘Do not degrade your daughter by making her a prostitute,(BD) or the land will turn to prostitution and be filled with wickedness.(BE)
30 “‘Observe my Sabbaths(BF) and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am the Lord.(BG)
31 “‘Do not turn to mediums(BH) or seek out spiritists,(BI) for you will be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.
32 “‘Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect(BJ) for the elderly(BK) and revere your God.(BL) I am the Lord.(BM)
33 “‘When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. 34 The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born.(BN) Love them as yourself,(BO) for you were foreigners(BP) in Egypt.(BQ) I am the Lord your God.
35 “‘Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight or quantity.(BR) 36 Use honest scales(BS) and honest weights, an honest ephah[d](BT) and an honest hin.[e](BU) I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt.(BV)
37 “‘Keep all my decrees(BW) and all my laws(BX) and follow them. I am the Lord.’”
Footnotes
- Leviticus 19:20 Or be an inquiry
- Leviticus 19:23 Hebrew uncircumcised
- Leviticus 19:23 Hebrew uncircumcised
- Leviticus 19:36 An ephah was a dry measure having the capacity of about 3/5 of a bushel or about 22 liters.
- Leviticus 19:36 A hin was a liquid measure having the capacity of about 1 gallon or about 3.8 liters.
Contemporary English Version (CEV) 
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